In the story of Theseus,
Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, helped Theseus to escape from the
labyrinth, and was carried by him to the island of Naxos and was left there
asleep, while the ungrateful Theseus pursued his way home without her.
Ariadne, on waking and finding herself deserted, abandoned herself to grief.
But Aphrodite took pity on her, and consoled her with the promise that
she should have an immortal lover, instead of the mortal one she had lost.
The island where Ariadne was left was the favourite island of Dionysos,
the same that he wished the Tyrrhenian mariners to carry him to, when they
so treacherously attempted to make prize of him. As Ariadne sat lamenting
her fate, Dionysos found her, consoled her, and made her his wife. As a
marriage present he gave her a golden crown, enriched with gems, and when
she died, he took her crown and threw it up into the sky. As it mounted
the gems grew brighter and were turned into stars, and preserving its form
Ariadne's crown remains fixed in the heavens as a constellation, between
the kneeling Hercules and the man who holds the serpent.
